IWA Water and Development Award (Research) 2017 Winner:
Barbara Evans, Professor of Public Health Engineering at the University of Leeds, UK
Two leading water innovators have been awarded the 2017 Water and Development Awards by the International Water Association. Working to deliver solutions to global water challenges, both have been recognised by the international water community for their outstanding contributions to the practice and science of water, which have improved the lives of millions of people in low- and middle-income countries.
Barbara Evans’ research has played a key role in developing effective strategies for securing safe access to water and sanitation, with a sustained attention to poor urban and rural communities. She has been awarded the IWA Water and Development Award for Research for increasing our understanding on community-wide approaches to tackle urban and rural water and sanitation challenges.
Marco Antonio Cevallos has shown how management vision can lead water utilities in emerging economies to deliver vastly improved services, even to the poorest in society. He is awarded the IWA Water and Development Award for Practice for instigating a new service paradigm that places greater emphasis on community engagement, resource stewardship, and investment decisions that consider the social, economic and environmental costs.
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“The IWA Development Awards recognise excellence, leadership and innovation in the water sector, and aim to encourage the continued contribution to the sustainable management of water in low- and middle-income countries”, said Kalanithy Vairavamoorthy, Executive Director of the International Water Association. “Barbara Evans and Marco Antonio Cevallos have both made significant contributions to realising safe water and improved sanitation for millions of people.”
Barbara Evans said, “I am delighted and honoured to accept this award. My work is dedicated to the 4.5 billion people worldwide who lack access to safely managed sanitation. I am very excited to have the opportunity which this award brings to work with the IWA’s members, who play a vital role in WASH service delivery, to further develop our understanding of how to deliver the SDG target 6.2 of universal access to safely managed sanitation.”
Marco Antonio Cevallos, said, “I am honored by this award, which only strengthens my commitment to improving water management for the people of Ecuador. Throughout my life working in water management, I have found that my efforts would be nothing if not for the amazing people on my team. I share this award with them and look forward to continue reaching our goals together.”
The awards will be presented during the opening Ceremony of the IWA Water and Development Congress & Exhibition in Buenos Aires, on Monday 13 November 2017.
Barbara Evans
Professor Evans’ research centres on sanitation, hygiene and water services in the global South, covering water and sanitation in low-income urban communities and rural sanitation. She places particular emphasis on engaging communities in research in an effort to achieve significant change in perceptions and to develop of effective strategies for the management of faecal sludge; alternatives to conventional water-borne sewerage in urban areas; rural sanitation programmes; sustainability and equity in community-wide approaches to eliminate open defecation; and technologies and institutions to link community sanitation and water investments with city networks.
Marco Antonio Cevallos
Marco Antonio Cevallos has played a key role in modernising and improving services and infrastructure, going beyond regional service standards to guarantee service availability and reliability, and achieving financial sustainability with due attention to social equity. His work has paid special attention to the urban poor and to rural populations in river basins whose livelihoods depend on managing natural resource properly. This has strengthened the link between urban consumers and rural custodians of water resources, as well as reducing natural and man-made risks to secure water resource in the medium- and long-term.
About the IWA Water and Development Award
The International Water Association is a global knowledge hub for water professionals and anyone concerned about the future of water. It has sixty-year heritage connecting water professionals worldwide to find solutions to the world’s water challenges as part of a broader sustainability agenda. As a non-profit organisation with members in more than 130 countries, the IWA connects scientists to practitioners and communities so that pioneering research delivers sustainable solutions. It further fosters technological innovation and drives best practice through international frameworks and standards.
The IWA Development Award is awarded by a panel of experts, and recognises outstanding contributions to research or practice that has led to demonstrable impact in low- and middle-income countries. It is awarded every two years at the IWA Water and Development Congress & Exhibition.
www.iwa-network.org
